GOD CAN USE THE BROKEN PLACES
“We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God.” — 2 Corinthians 4:7
Most of us are very good at hiding cracks.
We hide disappointment behind a smile.
We hide insecurity behind confidence.
We hide hurt behind busyness.
We hide mistakes because we are afraid people will think less of us if they discover we do not have everything together.
Sometimes we even try to hide those things from God.
But God has never required perfect containers.
Paul described believers as “earthen vessels.”
Clay jars.
Ordinary.
Fragile.
Breakable.
That hardly sounds like the description we might choose for people entrusted with carrying the message of Christ.
Yet that was precisely Paul’s point.
The treasure is extraordinary.
The container is not.
God intentionally works through imperfect people so that the glory belongs to Him.
Peter denied Jesus.
Moses struggled with insecurity.
David failed terribly.
Thomas doubted.
Paul had a past he could not erase.
Yet God continued working through them.
Their failures did not become the end of their stories.
Grace wrote another chapter.
Maybe there is something in your life you wish you could erase.
A decision.
A relationship.
A failure.
A season when you wandered far from God.
You may look at that broken place and see only regret.
God may look at the same place and see somewhere His grace can shine through.
A broken heart can become compassionate toward someone else who is hurting.
A recovered failure can become wisdom for another person approaching the same mistake.
A season of darkness can make us capable of recognizing someone who desperately needs light.
God does not waste surrendered pain.
This does not mean everything that happens to us is good.
It means God is powerful enough to bring something good even from circumstances that were not.
Your scars are evidence that there was once a wound.
But they are also evidence that the wound did not destroy you.
So stop waiting until you feel perfect before allowing God to use you.
There are no perfect people available.
There are only people willing to place their imperfect lives into the hands of a perfect God.
Prayer
Father, I give You the broken places of my life – the mistakes, disappointments, wounds, and regrets I would rather hide. Redeem what can be redeemed and use my story to bring hope to someone else. Let Your strength be seen through my weakness and Your grace through my imperfections. Amen.
Today’s thought:
Your broken places do not disqualify you from being used by God.